Authors: Theresa Ragan
The artist was an older woman with long gray curls that hung over her shoulders. “I use clay and bronze and I spend hours on each piece, trying to capture the innocence and grace of the female form.”
“Your passion shows in your work,” Jill said. “How much is this one?”
Derrick waited patiently for Jill to look around.
“The one you have your eye on is five thousand dollars. This one over here is thirty-five-hundred.”
Derrick nearly fell over backwards.
“I’ll have to think about it,” Jill said, “but if you have a card I would love to keep track of where you’ll be showing more of your work.”
The woman pulled a business card out of the front pocket of her apron and passed it on to Jill.
Derrick peeked into the stroller at Ryan and then started off again. “Why don’t we grab something to eat at the café across the street while Ryan is sleeping,” he said.
“That’s a terrific idea. I’m starved. Look at this,” Jill said, holding up the business card. “The woman is from New York City. She’s come a long way to sell her figurines.”
They stopped at the street corner and Jill pushed the button on the pole. As they waited for the Walk sign to turn green, she sent a text to her sister letting her know they would be in the café.
“Are you going to answer my question?” he asked.
The light turned green and she started off across the crosswalk. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because whether you’re my friend or not, who I choose to go out with is none of your business.” She held the door to the café open and waited for him to push the stroller through.
The waitress took them to the booth in the far corner, handed each of them a menu, and told them she’d be back in a few minutes.
Jill readjusted the blanket, making sure Ryan wasn’t too hot. “Dr. Lerner said Ryan was short for his age.”
Derrick grunted. “He’s hardly two weeks old. I think it’s a little soon to be—” He stopped in mid-sentence when he spotted Aaron putting a tip on the table across the way. “Just one minute.” He stood and headed that way. “Aaron,” he called.
Aaron turned toward him. His shoulders sank and his expression told Derrick he had already seen him and was trying to escape unnoticed. Derrick looked around. “Where’s Maggie?”
Aaron shook his head at him.
“I’m only asking because I was hoping you and Maggie could meet my friend, Jill, and our son, Ryan.”
“Maggie’s already halfway to the car and I really don’t have time.”
“Just give me one minute.”
Aaron raised his hands in surrender and followed him back to where Jill sat studying the menu.
“Jill, I’d like you to meet my brother, Aaron.”
Jill smiled as she came to her feet and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you,” she said. “I believe I’ve met all of the brothers now, haven’t I?”
“You still haven’t met Lucas or Garrett,” Derrick told her.
“I’m the misfit of the family,” Aaron told her. “We’re not brothers in the true sense of the word.”
“You’re not?”
“He’s adopted,” Derrick added.
Aaron peeked inside the stroller at Ryan. “So this is the little guy we keep hearing about, is it?”
“We just finished with his first check-up,” Jill said.
Aaron raised a brow. “Who’s your pediatrician?”
“Dr. Lerner.” She pointed out the window and toward the building they had just left. “Right over there.”
“I went to college with Nate,” Aaron said. “What are the odds?”
“I’ve known him for years,” Jill said excitedly. “He’s very competent and knowledgeable.”
“Yeah, he’s a good guy. He and I went golfing before he left for Europe. He has a great swing.”
“Is there anything that man can’t do?” Derrick asked.
Aaron angled his head as if he was thinking about asking Derrick what he meant, but then thought better of it. Instead, he looked at Jill. “It was nice meeting you. I better get going. My fiancée is waiting in the car. She’s probably wondering what’s happened to me.”
Derrick offered a hand, but after Aaron pretended not to notice, he shoved his hand into his front pants pocket and let it go. Derrick was beginning to feel like a leper. “Tell Maggie I said hello.”
“I don’t think so,” Aaron said with a frown. “But I am glad to see that the discoloration around your eye has almost disappeared. Maggie has been worrying about you ever since we saw you last. Speaking of which, I guess you won’t need her services since the two of you,” he said, wiggling a finger between him and Jill, “seem to have worked things out.”
“Is your fiancée Derrick’s attorney?” Jill asked.
“To tell you the truth,” Aaron said, “I’m not sure what their working relationship was…or is.” He let out a short caustic laugh and took a step away as he pointed a finger at Derrick. “Watch this guy though,” he told Jill. “He’s quick on his feet—on the field and off the field.” He continued to wag the same finger. “You never know what he’s going to do next.”
With that final cryptic message, Aaron walked away.
Once Aaron was out of sight, she took her seat and said, “Wow, somebody is angry with you. Is he the one who punched you in the eye?”
Derrick nodded. “He’s had a chip on his shoulder for as long as I can remember.”
Derrick glanced out the window and wondered how Maggie was getting along. He took a seat across from Jill and opened his menu, but it might as well have been written in Chinese because he couldn’t concentrate.
Chapter Twelve
Jill’s father had managed to get reservations at the Sky House downtown. They dined on prime rib eye with pommes frites, asparagus, and béarnaise sauce. There was a dance floor in the bar, and unlike their small group, the people on the other side of the room seemed to be having a good time.
Sandy had offered to take care of Ryan and Jill realized she missed her son already. This was the longest she’d been away from Ryan since he was born, not including the time he was kidnapped and taken to the park.
Jill’s parents had not been happy to learn that Derrick would be joining them for dinner, but now that they had all suffered through an awkwardly quiet meal, her parents seemed intent on making up for lost time before dessert was served.
“Your mother mentioned that Thomas has been trying desperately to get in touch with you.”
“I talked to him last week,” Jill offered.
“I heard that you were abrupt and cut the conversation short.”
Jill stiffened. “There really isn’t much for the two of us to say to one another.”
“He wants you back.”
“Maybe she doesn’t want him back,” Laura said before she raised her glass to her lips and finished off the rest of her wine in one long gulp.
“Thomas was recently appointed partner at the firm. He regrets what he did and he wants nothing more than to make it up to you.”
“I didn’t come here tonight to talk about Thomas,” Jill said, trying to keep her composure.
“Your apartment is small and the location is questionable at best. Come back to New York with us. We’ll set you up in a comfortable apartment where you’ll have help so that you can have fun with your project.”
“My project?”
“Yes, your little publication.”
Jill did her best to remain tight-lipped as her father droned on.
“Once we get you and Ryan set up properly, you might be frowned upon in the beginning, especially considering your choice to be a single mother, but once the other young couples learn that you come from good stock and see that you’re respectable and—”
Laura’s laughter cut into her father’s ridiculous oration, stopping him short.
“And what, might I ask, do you find humorous?” her father asked her sister.
“Good stock?” Laura repeated. “Are you kidding me? Why do you think Jill moved so far away in the first place? To get as far away from the three of us as possible,” she said, answering her own question. “You’ve been micro-managing both of our lives for too long.” Laura directed her gaze at Jill. “Did you know that Mom and Dad wanted Thomas in the family so badly that they tried to push him off on me?”
Derrick noticed Jill’s face turn bright red, and his heart went out to her.
“And worse than that,” Laura went on, “I fell for it…hook, line, and sinker. They went so far as to convince me that he left you at the altar because he was interested in me.”
“That’s enough,” Jill’s father said. “You’ve had too much to drink and you don’t know what you are saying.”
“Well, you, Father, have not had enough to drink because you still have that same stick up your ass. The good news is,” Laura told Jill, ignoring her father’s horrified expression, “is that Thomas ignored my advances and even revealed that he had made a horrible mistake when he left you.” Laura looked around for the waiter. “Where is everyone? I’m going to the bar to get a drink.” She left the table and headed for the bar where people of all ages danced beneath dim lights.
“Your poor sister,” her mom said the moment Laura was out of earshot.
“What do you mean?” Jill asked.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” her father asked. “Thanks to you, she’s a complete mess.”
“Soon after you left,” her mother added, “she became argumentative and defiant.”
“And this is somehow my fault?”
“Of course it is,” her father said under his breath.
Derrick put a hand on Jill’s shoulder. She wore a black sleeveless dress, and he brushed his thumb over her soft skin. He wasn’t sure if the stunned look she wore had to do with her sister’s bluntness or the idea that her parents might have tried to hook up her ex with her sister. He wanted nothing more than to tell these so-called aristocrats to stuff it and then lean down and nibble on her neck, but for Jill’s sake he kept his opinions and his urge to nibble to himself.
Mrs. Garrison’s stone-cold gaze burned a hole into the hand he had on her daughter. “Tell me again,” she said, “how did the two of you meet?”
“When Derrick was in college,” Jill offered matter-of-factly, “he made a donation to the sperm bank. Eighteen months later, he changed his mind and sent them their money back along with a letter letting them know where he stood on the matter.”
“And where exactly
did
he stand?” her father asked.
Derrick held out a hand, letting them all know he could speak for himself. “Although I needed money at the time,” he said, “I realized I didn’t like the idea of having my biological children out in the world, knowing I wouldn’t be a part of their lives.”
“How did you find Jill?” Mrs. Garrison asked. “Those places are supposed to be discreet about these things.”
“I hired a private investigator.”
“Do you two plan to marry?” her father asked next.
“Not at this time.”
“Why not?” he asked, obviously trying to make Derrick look like the bad guy.
“Because we’ve known one another for less than two weeks.”
“She’s raising your baby. That’s not good enough for you?”
Jill tried to get a word in, but Derrick was too quick. “It’s not good enough for your daughter. She’ll decide when and who she wants to marry when the time comes.”
“Maybe she chooses you,” Mr. Garrison said. “Have you asked her to marry you?”
Derrick looked at Jill and said, “Jill, will you marry me?”
“No, but thanks for asking.”
Derrick looked back at her father and shrugged his shoulders.
“You’re trying to be cute with me?”
“No, sir, I’m not. I was only trying to prove a point.”
“Which is?”
“Your daughter is old enough to make her own decisions. She knows what she does and doesn’t want.”
“And apparently she doesn’t want you.”
“Dad,” Jill said. “That’s enough. If we can’t all sit here and enjoy a nice dinner, then maybe Derrick and I should leave.”
“Thomas still loves you,” her mother said, desperation lining her voice. “He regrets what he did.”
“Did you really try to set him up with Laura?” Jill’s eyes could not conceal the hurt she felt by their betrayal.
“Whether we did or not is neither here nor there,” her father said. “The fact is he only wants you.”
Jill stood and looked at Derrick. “Let’s dance.”
Without hesitating, Derrick came to his feet and led her to the dance floor. Billy Joel’s soft ballad “Just The Way You Are” played from the speakers, which was a good thing because his knee was acting up again. The moment they hit the dance floor, Derrick took Jill into his arms and held her close as they swayed to the music. No words were said between them. No words were necessary.
~~~
Seventy-two hours after their dinner from hell, Jill held Ryan in her arms and knocked on the door to Derrick’s apartment. It was Friday, 4pm, and she was excited at the prospect of a night out without Mom and Dad questioning her every move. Once her parents realized Jill was not going to return to New York, they dropped Laura off at the airport, having no idea they wouldn’t be seeing their youngest daughter for a while. Then her parents headed for San Francisco, telling Jill they would be returning next weekend to say goodbye before they returned home. Jill didn’t know what to think about her sister running off with a band, but Laura seemed genuinely happy and that’s all that mattered.
The door came open and, as always, Derrick looked ridiculously crazy, take-your-breath-away handsome. Never mind that he wore a simple pair of gray sweatpants and a clean white T-shirt. Thick dark hair curled around his ears and when his gaze fell on hers, his brown eyes appeared darker than she remembered. The expression on his face was hard to read, and he had a dangerous edge to him that never failed to make her insides quiver.
He took the baby bag out of her hand and gestured for her to come inside.
“I thought I’d bring Ryan to you first and then go back for the portable crib,” she said as she stepped inside.
“No need.” He leaned forward and for a fleeting moment she thought he was going to kiss her. Instead, he planted his lips on Ryan’s forehead.
Inwardly, Jill scolded herself for thinking that Derrick was going to kiss her. Even more ridiculous was the fact that she was going to let him. He’d been more than gracious at dinner with her uptight parents, handling their rudeness with aplomb, letting their offensive questions and rude comments roll off of his back like water. Derrick had been kind and courteous. And the best part of the night had been when he followed her to the dance floor without question and held her in his arms, calming her nerves and making her feel safe.